Pope Francis baptises one of 32 babies during a mass in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican

Pope Francis baptises one of 32 babies during a mass in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican January 12, 2014, in this handout courtesy of Osservatore Romano. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters (VATICAN - Tags: RELIGION)
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Pope baptizes 32 babies in Sistine Chapel

With wails resounding amid the splendor of the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis on Sunday baptized 32 infants, and at one point in the ceremony told mothers to feel free to feed their crying babies.

Formally welcoming the children as members of the Catholic church, Francis poured water from a shell-shaped dish over the heads of the babies held in their mothers' arms. Francis pronounced the babies' names one by one, as beaming parents held their children, dressed in white satin or silk gowns and other finery, in the chapel whose ceiling was frescoed by Michelangelo. (AP)